


Father's Day

by localspacelesbian



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Found Family, Gen, Panic Attacks, aro Jonah, bowie as a father figure to jonah gives me life, nb Bowie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-12 18:22:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19234597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/localspacelesbian/pseuds/localspacelesbian
Summary: Jonah’s parents aren’t always there for him, but that’s ok because he has a new family who is.





	Father's Day

Bowie was at the Red Rooster, standing behind the counter and leaning on it. Aside from a couple kids in earlier that day for guitar lessons, things had been pretty slow all day. He was considering walking around and cleaning everything, just for something to do, when he heard the door open. He looked up, assuming it was a customer. But it was not a customer. It was Jonah. And he was breathing heavily, just like that first time he had come into the store. The smile fell from Bowie’s face and was quickly replaced with a look of concern.

He walked quickly around the counter and toward Jonah. He said his name to get his attention. He led him over to the couch and told him to sit down and breathe. He reached over and grabbed the nearest guitar and put it in Jonah’s hands because hey, that worked last time, right? He sat down on the table in front of Jonah.

“Can you play a D for me?” It took a few seconds because his hands were shaking, but Jonah played the chord. “Ok good. Now, an A?” He got that one a little more quickly. “G?” Jonah played that chord immediately and seemed to be calming down. “Well, you can still play the three best chords in the world, so you aren’t dying,” Bowie tried to joke.

Jonah exhaled quickly, almost like a laugh, and looked up at him. “Thank you.” He still sounded a bit out of breath.

“Hey, no problem man. Do you want some water or something?”

Jonah just nodded, so Bowie went to the back to grab a bottle of water.

When he came back, Jonah had put the guitar away and walking back toward the couch. Bowie handed him the water. “Thanks.” Jonah took the bottle and opened it as he sat down.

Bowie sat back on the table. “Do you wanna talk about it? It’s ok if you don’t, but I’m here if you do.”

Jonah took a long drink of his water and then sighed. He just sat there quietly for a minute, thinking. Just when Bowie was going to say something else, Jonah finally spoke. “It’s just. It’s my parents. They were fighting again.”

“Oh.” It was the ‘again’ that surprised Bowie the most. Jonah had never really talked about his family much. Bowie knew that they had some kind of financial problems, but he didn’t know they also had other problems. “I’m sorry. How long has this been going on?”

Jonah shrugged and took another drink of his water. “I wanna say it’s just been since we lost our house, but I think that’s just when I started noticing it. I don’t think I can even remember the last time I saw them happy together.”

Bowie moved over to the couch and put his arm around him. “I’m sorry.” He didn’t really know what else to say.

“It’s always kinda sucked, but I never really thought much of it. And then you showed up, and you actually came to our frisbee games. And you and Bex and Andi are like the perfect family. And I’ve never had that. Like I have my parents, and now I have my aunt and uncle and cousins, and I love them, but it’s like we’re not even really a family; we’re just people who live together.” Jonah set his water on the table and pulled his knees up to his chest.

Before Bowie had time to think of a response, Jonah kept going. Apparently, this was something Jonah had been holding in for a while that he needed to get out.

“They’ve never come to my frisbee games, which is like whatever; no one comes to our games. But they haven’t been to anything I’ve done since I was in baseball like five years ago. And my dad was the coach, so it’s not like he had much of a choice. They don’t even know that I started playing guitar. Or that I have panic attacks. I haven’t introduced them to any of my friends or girlfriends since Amber. The first time we dated, I mean. And my parents made it pretty clear that they didn’t like her. Which, like, is fair considering she used to be kinda mean, but it still sucked, y’know?” He leaned in to Bowie then.

“Have you tried telling them any of that stuff?”

Jonah shrugged. “They’ve never asked. Besides, they expect everything to be perfect. They want me to play a real sport and have perfect grades and go to college and get a job and have a house and a wife and two and a half kids. How am I supposed to tell them about my anxiety or that I don’t know if I want any of that. I mean, I feel like my ideal situation would be living with a bunch of friends and our dogs or traveling and doing music or something.” He shrugged again. “And I have no idea how they’d react if I came out. They probably wouldn’t believe me. They can barely handle me playing a sport that they don’t think is real. I think if I just walked up to them and was like, ‘mom, dad, I’m aromantic and have panic attacks and play guitar,’ they’d probably have a heart attack or something.”

Bowie took a deep breath while he thought of something to say. “My mom still calls me my deadname.” Jonah looked up at him then. “And she still tries to cut my hair every time she sees me.” He looked down at Jonah. “I love her, but she can be a bit much sometimes, which is like the opposite of the problem you have I guess. I’m not telling you this to try to make this about me or whatever; I just want you to know that you’re not alone. Sometimes, our parents suck. Sometimes, they try their best, and they love us, but they still hurt us. Sometimes they don’t even try. And it’s not the kid’s responsibility to reach out and fix things. Sometimes, you find a new family. Family doesn’t have to be the people who raised you or the people you’re related to. Family is the people who are there for you and care about you. I’m sure your parents love you in their own way, but if you ever need someone to show up at your games and concerts or whatever, or just sit here and listen to you, I’m here. I know it’s not the same, but I can be your mom and your dad and your cool older sibling and your weird uncle and your lesbian aunt with nine cats if you want.”

Jonah laughed slightly at that last part, which made Bowie feel like he was doing something right. “You don’t have cats.”

“I will get cats for you if that’s what it takes to make you see that there are people out there who care about you, even when it doesn’t always feel like it.”

Jonah leaned over and hugged Bowie, which Bowie returned. “Thanks, Bowie.” They pulled away from each other and Jonah sat back in his previous position. “Y’know, you’re pretty good at this whole parent thing, considering you’ve only been doing it for like two years.”

“Well, I had to make up for all the years I missed by being a good parent to all my daughter’s friends too.”

“Thank you.” They heard a phone vibrate and Jonah pulled his out of his pocket and checked it, grimacing slightly when he saw whatever it said. “I should probably get going.” Jonah stood up, so Bowie did too. They hugged again, and then Jonah started to walk away.

“Remember.” Jonah stopped and turned to look back at him. “If you ever need anything.”

Jonah nodded. “I know.” And then he walked out the door.

 

A few weeks later, Jonah showed up on the doorstep of the Mack’s apartment. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

Bex opened the door. “Hi, Jonah.” She turned her head to call into the apartment. “Andi, Jonah’s here!”

“Actually, I’m here for Bowie.”  
“Oh.” Bex seemed a little surprised and confused but just turned and called into the apartment again. “Bowie, Jonah’s here.”

Both Bowie and Andi appeared next to Bex.

Jonah handed Bowie a red envelope and looked down at his feet. Was this weird? Maybe this was a bad idea.

“What is it?” Bex was trying to look at it over Bowie’s shoulder while he opened it. “Is that… a Mother’s Day card?” She looked to Andi. “I didn’t get a Mother’s Day card.”

“Yet. Be patient. Also, I made you breakfast in bed, what more do you want from me?” Andi and Bex looked back to Bowie and then to Jonah.

Jonah looked up and saw that the three Macks were staring at him. Bex looked confused, Andi looked weirdly proud, and Bowie was smiling, and Jonah thought he could see his eyes watering, but that might have just been a trick of the light. “Sorry if this is weird. But I just… yeah” He gesture toward the card hoping that it got his message across for him because he didn’t really know how to put how he felt into words, especially with the three of them staring at him. “And I didn’t really want to wait for Father’s Day, and I figured you wouldn’t mind. You did say you’d be my mom and my dad and my cool older sibling and weird uncle, right? Although, I don’t think those last two have holidays.”

“Don’t forget lesbian aunt with nine cats.” If Bex looked confused before, that really threw her off.

Jonah laughed. “Oh I could never forget that.” He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a bracelet Andi had helped him make. It had nine completely different cat charms on it. He handed it to Bowie.

“Thank you, Jonah.” He looked down at the bracelet in his hand, and yeah, there were definitely tears in his eyes now.

Bex helped Bowie put the bracelet on. “Dang kid, when did you get so good at gift-giving?”

“Andi may have helped a little.” He turned back to Bowie. “But I promise your Father’s Day present is going to be way better. I’m already working on it.”

“I get a Father’s Day present too?”  
Jonah smiled. “Of course. Until they make a Nonbinary Parent’s Day or a Queer Mentor’s Day or whatever you wanna call it, anyway.”

They were all smiling at him by that point, and Bowie pulled him into a hug, which quickly turned into a group hug.

Bex opened the door a little wider. “Do you want to come in? We were about to start making a cake for Cece and could always use an extra pair of hands.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t wanna intrude.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re family,” Andi insisted. Jonah couldn’t hold back a smile as she grabbed his hand and pulled him into the apartment.

 

About a month later, it was the day before Father’s Day, and The Red Rooster was having another open mic night. Jonah had made sure that his performance was last, which he was starting to regret as he nervously waited for it to be his turn. He was fidgeting with the black ring he had on his right middle finger.

“And last but certainly not least, Jonah Beck!”

He smiled at the person who introduced him as they walked off stage and he walked on, and they smiled back. He grabbed his guitar and sat on the stool in front of the microphone.

He had tried to plan something to say before he started his song, but all of those thoughts flew out of his head as he looked out into the crowd, so he just started playing. As he played, he looked over at Bowie and all of his friends who were there to support him.

When he finished, he walked off stage and put his guitar away while the person who had introduced the performers closed out the show. He walked over to where the Macks were standing in the audience, and Bowie immediately engulfed him in a hug, which once again, quickly became a group hug, with not just Bex and Andi this time, but Cyrus and Buffy and Amber and TJ as well.

This, Jonah decided, is what family felt like.


End file.
